


Walking after you

by just_beginning



Series: In Unison [1]
Category: Deadpool (Comics), Deadpool (Movieverse), Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: (nothing graphic) - Freeform, Angst, Arguing, But then we cheer up a bit, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Gwen Stacy is Dead, Heart-to-Heart, Only canon-ish, Past Character Death, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Protective Peter Parker, Sad Peter Parker, Slice of Life, Spideypool - Freeform, Wade Wilson is a Good Bro, Wade Wilson is a Good Friend, We're getting a little angsty here people, unexpected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 05:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19350700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_beginning/pseuds/just_beginning
Summary: Peter (mostly) trusts Wade and all, but he's also not going to put anything past him.  This leads to an impressive misunderstanding, some purged emotions, and an unplanned heart-to-heart.Because who the hell is George Stacy, anyway?.(The one where Peter Parker feels like he has some debts, and he's making sure Spider-man does his part in paying up.)





	Walking after you

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure Officer Stacy is dead in most canons, but ...I like this better?

Wade loves his guns.This should be a surprise to precisely no one. 

So it also shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s feeling very content kneeling on a rooftop with his rifle tucked close to his shoulder.He’s watching the street below through a top-of-the-line scope _\- because Deadpool don’t need bargains, bitch_ \- and he’s perfectly at ease. 

Something about impersonally studying a scene through a scope like this always makes the world feel incredibly simple.Focused.There’s a lot going on below him; one of the cop cruisers still has its lights on, a half a dozen people are milling around and some are barking orders. 

But none of that matters. 

All the other bullshit comes down to just two things: his trigger finger and the poor schmuck he has in his sights. 

“I gottcha, mother fuck-!”

The gun does go off, but Wade doesn’t have a chance to enjoy it because it’s kicked from his hand halfway through pulling the trigger.And who the hell might be floating around rooftops liberating weapons from properly-trained handlers? 

Now that’s a silly question... 

Wade whips towards his left to face Spiderman, whose eyes are narrowed at him.But he’s not the only damn Super in this town with an expressive mask; Wade narrows his own white eyes into slits to glare right back at the vigilante.He couldn’t have come like thirty seconds later?Because now this is a job down the toilet. 

“What the actual fuck!” he spits and shoves himself up to his feet.

Spidey has already solidified his place in Wade’s unofficial Top Ten People list, but he’s not throwing free smiles at anyone who pulls this kind of shit.Wade knows his jobs are outside of Webs‘ morals, but he has a code, doesn’t he?He’s doing “better” isn’t he?Sometimes you just gotta let somebody be who the fuck they are. 

_Christ_. 

And it’s not like he expects Webs to actually back down just because he’s tall and broad and posturing.Spider-man has faced down too much crime and violence for that.Even so, the way that he advances is bolder and more aggressive than Wade expects.He doesn’t draw back either because he’s Deadpool, but .... _damn_.Spidey must be having himself a night.

Spider-man gets straight into his space and shoves. Hard. Wade barely saves himself from sprawling onto his ass. 

“What the hell are you doing?” the shorter masked man finally speaks. 

“I was working, you meddling dweeb,” Wade throws back.“The fuck did it look like?”

Because fucking _duh_ , right? 

Wade shuffles for the roof’s ledge again to try to peep down and see just how royally everything has gone to hell down there.They will probably both need to scram soon and then he-

Before he can get a look, one hand grasps his upper arm andanother grabs his shoulder to wrench him right back again.Wade does actually fall this time, though he rolls smoothly back to his feet. 

“What the damn hell, Parker!”

The air freezes for a second and Spidey’s squinted eyes go wide. Riiiiight.Secret identities. Damn it. 

Whatever, there’s no one around close enough to hear. 

So getting punched in the chest seems like a high overreaction. 

The air in Wade’s lungs whooshes from his chest in a heavy huff, and he hears a telltale pop.He drops to his knees uncontrollably but is able to throw out a hand to catch his weight.The other hand clutches to his chest. Yes ...yes something's definitely broken. 

Wade and Peter have brawled before, sure. They’d thrown down before they really knew each other, now they spar together sometimes on a slow night, and every so often things devolve into flustered wrestling matches between them.But it’s been a very long time since Peter has hit him _like that_.

“Fuck...” he wheezes and has to cough air back into his chest even though that hurts like a bitch.“You cracked my sternum!That smarts, you assclown!”

“Spider-man!”a shout reaches them.

Both masked faces turn to the edge of the roof.Wade, despite his moment of shock and the flaring pain, straightens up tall on his knees incase they gotta fuckin’ _go_. He’ll fight, he’ll run; what the fuck ever. 

“Spider-man!I know you’re up there!” the deep voice continues to holler. “We saw you - get down here!” 

Who the fuck talks to him like that?And why isn’t Spider-man bristling or running?He’s just standing there, shoulders hunched. 

“Wh---” Wade starts.

“I’m talking to you, Spider-man ... ...hey! Where did you go!”

“Stay right there,” Spider-man thrusts a finger at Deadpool.

Wade isn’t really one for taking orders these days, but something new and firm in Peter’s tone makes him stiffen a little and take notice.It reminds him of bootcampand a lot of sand and dust, so he immediately hates it.Even so, he stays right there where he’s knelt while Spider-man turns away and leaps over the edge of the building. 

He’s alone on the rooftop for a few seconds before he fully processes that he’s obeying a goddamn order that hadn’t even had an explicit threat behind it.Wade scrambles to his feet and then to the roof’s ledge so he can sneak a look at what’s happening down there.

What’s happening is ...nothing exciting, really.It is curious, though. 

Spiderman is standing in the middle of the street with a cop who Wade suspects is the one who’s shouted Spidey down and demanded his presence. The man is tall and stocky, his dark hair disheveled ...perhaps from the fright they’d all surely just had down there.Wade, ever observant and aware of his surroundings, had spotted the man earlier through his scope. He’d had his uniform hat on, then. Now he is slightly out of sorts and gesticulating widely with his hands. 

And Peter _\- a name Wade has only recently learned and has probably been using too much in his thoughts, causing him to inexpertly blurt it moments ago_ \- is just fucking taking it.His hands are on his hips in a mock-authoritative way, but he’s not arguing back.He nods a few times and maybe speaks in the short moments when the policeman pauses, but he’s not talking with his hands or thrusting animated fingers around like the older man. 

And, okay, yeah ...it’s probably right on brand that Spider-man isn’t giving cops shit, but it’s not like he works for them.He doesn’t have to take grief from them if he doesn’t want to.He could walk away.

And what’s this cop’s deal anyway?

They must know damn well it wasn’t Spidey who had popped-off a round.Should Wade go down there to claim credit?It’s not like he’s scared of their measly handcuffs or their guns.

The whole thing has Wade on edge, like something’s gone wrong.Like he needs to extract Spidey from the situation _\- no man left behind and whatnot_.Because the fuzz should be thankful for Spider-man, damnit; he does their job better than they do half the fucking time. Wade knows Spider-man is still controversial _\- not nearly as controversial as him, though, thank you very fucking much!_ \- but most of the police have an indulgent view of him so long as he keeps turning over the perps. 

That’s pretty self-serving if you ask Wade, but he supposes that it behooves Peter, too.Keeps the heat off his back and all that. 

So this seems ...pretty fucked?

 

He watches until the scene begins to clear out a bit, and then he backs up when Spider-man finally strolls back across the sidewalk and starts climbing up the building.Once his torso comes up into view, Wade begins his slow clap. 

“That was quite the show...” 

“What were you doing up here tonight?” Peter asks quietly, thoroughly dismissing Wade’s ribbing. 

“Why are we acting like this is strange?I told you I was working,” he frowns behind the mask. 

“...look, I promised them no one was coming around to shoot cops; was I lying?” 

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Wade rolls his eyes and his whole head along with it just to make sure that the other man can see and feel his derision. 

“Is that what you were going to do?” Spidey snaps and gets into Wade’s face again. 

And normally Wade’s into that.Spider-man is confident and, to hell with it, he’s sexy in his tight suit _\- fuckin’ fact_.Even when he’s being regular Peter, a thing Wade has now been able to see a few times, he’s a good looking guy.Wade flirts at him, gladly welcomes him into his space. 

But something’s not right.

Pete’s still seething, and it’s pissing Wade off. 

“No! Jeeze, when’s the last time you saw me take out a cop?” he spits right back and give’s the man’s shoulder a nudge to back him off.“I was after their suspect, ya pompous moron.” 

Those over-large eyes of Spidey’s look him up and down to assess the truth of this. Like he’s going to see a lie behind the leather, or maybe he’ll catch Deadpool crossing his gloved fingers. 

“But _you_ ,” Wade ignores this appraisal and focuses right back on his favorite neighborhood idiot. “Why the _fuck_ are you letting him talk to you that way?You just come at someone’s beck and call, now? Workinga new deal with the NYPD?Like, what ...you’re down with Superhuman Registration, now, too? Like we should all go be yes-boys...” 

Wade’s not even sure _why_ he’s so put-off by what he’d seen, only that Spider-man is supposed to be better than that and separate from the bullshit. 

He’s actually somehow relieved when Spider-man dives forward and tackles him around the middle.They bang into one of the roof’s ventilation units and then tumble to the ground.The whole thing isn’t exactly whole-hearted since in reality they could literally be throwing each other off the rooftop, but they carry on in a flurry of knees and elbows and fists. 

“You fuckin’ selling out into some fucked up system?” Wade growls, gaining some control even from underneath by squeezing Spider-man tight to temporarily pin his arms. 

He gets a elbow to the solar plexus for that, and his diaphragm seizes. His arms loosen momentarily and then they wrestle on, absorbing hits with grunts and curses.

It’s dirty and just a little bit exciting.

 

Wade is the first to excise his frustrations, and he looses vested interest in what they’re doing.Probably because of this, he actually has to be the responsible one and yanks on Peter to hurtle them away from the edge of the roof when they get a little too close for comfort.The fact that he’s able to do so easily is probably a sign that something is pretty fucking off.

He slams Peter chest down onto the gritty roof and drops on top of him, pressing his elbow between the other man’s shoulders. 

“The fuck Peter?” he grinds out softly between his teeth. 

They both just pant for a couple quiet seconds.

“Were you going to do it?” Peter huffs and leverages his arms up under himself despite the pressure Wade is exerting.“Were you going to shoot them?” 

“The cops?” Wade scowls and gives Peter a sort-of-but-not-really gentle jab over one of his kidneys; the soft grunt that results is only a little bit satisfying. “Fucking _no_.We already covered that.” 

All at once Peter just goes lax under him, which is either disconcerting or a very clever ruse.Wade figures he can handle either outcome, so he sits back on his knees. 

“Spidey?” 

He doesn’t answer but thunks his forehead forward onto the ground, shoulders still heaving where he lays prone. He’s not trying to lash out or re-start the fight, so Wade shuffles back to give him space for whatever the fuck this is.Once he does, Peter hunches his shoulders further and grinds his forehead into the concrete under him, and Wade’s not sure what that’s about or if it’s healthy to let him continue. 

“I’m not a yes-man,” Peter finally speaks again and Wade regrets saying that a little bit if this is going to become a damn thing. “That was George Stacy...” 

It seems that’s supposed to mean something, but Wade is non-fucking-plussed. Who’s Georgey?And is he supposed to hate him? Wade’s willing to do that, no questions asked. 

“...I used to date his daughter,” Peter shoves with one arm and flops onto his back when he explains this.

Wade snorts because that shit there is a horse of a different color. 

Spider-man’s mask ticks just a fraction in his direction. 

“She’s dead,” he adds dully.

Okay, okay, so he’s a dick.Nothing new there. 

“Shit...” Wade has nothing else to offer but that.

The other man is still splayed flat and nods up at the sky. 

“She died a few years ago. I was, uh, fighting Osborn-- the Green Goblin, you know... and she was there.She fell -- _no_ , he threw her,” Peter catches and corrects himself, and then he goes on like he can’t stop. “I couldn’t get to her in time ...I tried,” his voice roughens, his tone more desperate, but Wade just stands there and pretends he doesn’t notice. 

Peter takes a few seconds to breathe in.Then slowly out. 

“I did catch her, but... it was too late. She fell so far and so fast, and she was too close to the ground when my web caught her... ...I was still stories above her, but I knew....” 

This is morbid, and the flat way Peter’s talking isn’t right; he’s more animated and quirky.Wade doesn’t like this, hadn’t asked for it, but he can’t bring himself to interrupt. He _had_ goaded, after all; he supposes he has to take what he hadn’t meant to get. 

“Officer Stacey, he...” Peter stops to swallow.“Well, he doesn’t know I’m me ...like, that I’m Peter, her old boyfriend.But I stuck around until the ambulances came, so he knows I,” he gestures to the spider on his chest, “was there.That I couldn’t ...or that I didn’t... ...well, I can’t ever pay him what I owe him for that. I know it.He knows it.And I’m pretty sure he hates me, which, ya know, is fine...” he rambles but Wade thinks that it doesn’t sound fucking fine.“Anyway, I keep an eye on him.”

“Ah...”

“He knows that, too. It pisses him off a bit, but,” Peter’s sigh sounds dead tired. “...he uses it sometimes.I know that ....but I don’t care...” 

Wade’s sure, he’s positive, that he’s supposed to say something.Peter has vomited out what he felt he needed to say to explain himself, and now it’s his turn to reassure him or maybe even ask a question.Wade wants to do that, but he hesitates because he’s sort of known for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time ...although, to be fair, sometimes the _right_ thing at the wrong time.He’s sort of out of practice these days; he’s made a niche out of being the loud comic relief so people tell him to fuck off more often than they try to share confidences or get his honest opinion on things. 

Spider-man _\- Peter -_ is different, though.He’s not as high and lofty and unreachable as his Avenger pals; he’s on the streets and gives a shit on an everyday level, so he and Wade have gotten past the quips and fights and annoyances. They know each others names ( _though, to be fair, Wade’s never made such a secret of his_ ), he’s seen Peter’s face, Peter’s been to his home...it’s a whole thing. 

Long-ass story short: he doesn’t want to fuck this up. 

“Guess I’m sorry I called you a yes-man...” 

_‘Oh. Yeah. Brilliant, Wilson - remind him of that...’_

But Peter snorts, so maybe it’s just right. 

“You said yes-boy, actually...” Peter corrects him petulantly because sometimes he literally can’t help it. 

“Alright smart-ass,” Wade hooks his thumbs into the shoulder straps of his katanas and studies the boneless looking Spider-man sprawled before him, thinking he’s seen a lot of facets of Peter Parker but never this one. “He might not hate you, ya know ...if he did he’d probably haul you in to unmask you and shit,” he tries to lighten at least something about this story. 

“He threatened to,” Peter admits, “but he always used to come down on the side of Spider-man.So did Gwen ...even before she found out it was me...” 

“Gwen...” Wade repeats.

Wade has heard Peter mention that name before, always furtively, almost accidentally.From that he had pictured she might be a crush, maybe someone from work.Clearly assuming got him nowhere. 

“Tell me about her,” he decides and abruptly lets himself crumple to the ground so he can stretch out a few feet from Peter. 

“What?” 

Peter rolls his head to stare into Wade’s red and black face.He’s heard Wade, of course, and yet he oddly can’t quite wrap his head around what he’s saying.No one has ever asked this of him before. He could talk with Aunt May about Gwen, he could talk to her about anything, but no one else in his life knows the entirety of what he’s just blurted out to the mercenary.He’d given the abridged version, but it’s still more than he ever tells anyone. 

Emotion clogs his throat for a moment and his eyes string.This is entirely _not_ the night he’d planned on having. 

“If you’re trying to be pervy about her I’ll drop kick you off the roof,” he does his best to sound light and calm though his heart is racing. 

“I believe it,” Wade rubs at the middle of his chest. 

“...sorry about that,” Peter frowns. 

He hadn’t needed Wade’s earlier exposition to tell him he’d broken his sternum.Peter had felt the give in the bone when he’d landed that punch.He’s a little sick, now, that he had felt satisfied in the moment rather than guilty...

“Yeah, well ...I said your name.I get it...” 

“They couldn’t have heard you,” Peter looks back up to the sky where only a few random stars can be spotted.“I just panicked...”

“Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt,” Wade dismisses.“And I tend to do more than throw punches when I spazz...” 

Bullets. Knives. Maybe a grenade or two.He doesn’t have to say so; Peter knows.Wade had been trained in the art of efficient destruction and sometimes it shows. 

“Still, I could’ve...I dunno, taken a deep breath or something...”

“Not always an option, baby boy,” Wade understands out loud. 

While Peter mulls over his anger and also the fact that Wade so readily accepts pain, Wade is raising his arms out in front of him to make finger guns and mime shooting at those few visible stars. He seems entirely at ease, totally over it, even though Peter wants to make himself dwell on the way he regrets the overreaction.Self-flagellation, that’s what Aunt May calls this tendency. 

“Pew,” Wade breathes. “... ...pew, pew,” he pretends to shoot and mimes the recoil in his arm, too. 

Peter snickers a little. 

“And I wasn’t being pervy,” Wade turns his attention back to Peter now that he’s made a noise and seems to be out of his head. “They say talking about someone helps keep them alive in your memory, ya know?Sounds corny as fuck, but ... ...” he drops both of his hands to fold them together on his chest, pausing but then apparently deciding he can share, too. “I dunno.I wasn’t really allowed to talk about my mom after she died.I think I forgot her details too fast...”

Peter just blinks at Wade and isn’t sure what to say. Wade mentions the Army every now and then, often as throwaway adventures rather than formative experiences- _a dismissal Peter doesn’t quite believe_.As far as Peter can remember, however, he has never heard Wade mention anything about his life prior to that.It’s like in his mind Wade was just a nineteen-year-old who sprouted out of the ground in government issued fatigues.Now he can picture a chubby little kid holding the hand of some unknown mother, and just like that Deadpool becomes even more human. 

“So are you gonna do it?” Wade clears his throat to ask. 

“Huh?” Peter blinks out of his thoughts.

“Tell me about her?” 

“Oh, right ... ....I guess,” he remembers Wade’s point.

“So was she some sassy mean girl?” Wade guesses, prodding to make sure the attention is back off of himself ASAP. 

“No,” Peter quickly defends her. “No, she was nice ...to everyone,” he smiles under his mask. “I was a big nerd in high school, quiet ...didn’t really have a lot of friends.She didn’t care about any of that ...” Peter remembers some of the loneliness Gwen had assuaged for him and the way she had helped draw him out of his shell a little more. “And she was smart ...so smart.We were in all of our advanced placement classes together...” 

“So you really were nerds,” Wade nods his understanding. 

It doesn’t feel like an insult from him, so Peter chuckles. 

“All day, every day nerding ....we pushed each other,” this was particularly so in college, once “nerd” had been a cooler thing and Peter had found more people like himself and began to excel even further. “We were both better for it, I think.A little competitive...” 

Maybe there would have been real jealousy regarding academics if they’d ever gotten to the point of vying for the same internships or a job ...but Gwen hadn’t gotten that far, had she?Peter still feels the sting that always comes when he thinks of the future that could have been, but he does his best to recognize it and then let it go.That’s what the counselor at the school’s wellness center had coached him to work on.He generally has hit-or-miss success with it.

“She found out I was Spider-man and ...well, she didn’t really get some of my tenacity, but she loved me anyway.Even despite the way it scared her,” he pauses here to remember, _again_ , that it was her choice to do so and that he should be respecting the courage that must have taken.“...and then it killed her...” 

He refrains from saying _“I_ killed her.”He’d said it aloud once to Aunt May and it had scared her that he thought that, so he’s since kept it to himself.The thought is always there, though, tucked away in a dark little place so he doesn’t always have to face it ...but it’s there. 

The stiff way Wade shifts, a stilted rustling on the grimy floor, seems to suggest to Peter than he understands what he was really saying. 

“I get it.I was always scared of that kind of shit when I was in a relationship.I’ve brought so much hell down on myself, I thought it would come after her for sure, too ...” 

“What happened?” 

“Oh, I scared her right the fuck away,” Wade tries to answer airily as if this is nothing of consequence, but he overshoots and sounds a little disingenuous.“The anger, the paranoia, the actual danger ....the general aura that is _me_ ,” he raises a hand to wave at the vague area of his face. “It’s a lot, or so I’m told...” 

Peter is never quite sure how much of Wade’s self-deprecation about his looks is real and how much of it isexaggeration for the sake of the joke.He’s seen the scarring of Wade’s mouth and chin when they eat, but he has a hard time filling in the rest of his face with his mind’s eye....and Wade, so far, isn’t keen to show more any time soon.

“Sorry,” he offers even if some of what he’s said is hyperbole.

He sees Wade nod at the darkness, and they both lay still a while.Peter remains a little anxious from talking about Gwen, but mostly he feels spent.He’d been full of fear and anger when he’d found Deadpool, and the mercenary’s accusations, teasing as some of them may have been, had fueled it all. Plus, direct contact with Mr. Stacy always put him on edge in the first place. All of that had dissipated by now and he just left a little empty. 

He’s not really sure if it’s good or bad. 

Rather than decide, he rests his wet eyes and breathes in the smell of gunpowder that follows Deadpool everywhere. It should probably be alarming that he smells of weapons and explosives, but it’s simply part of him by now.

“You wanna go find some asses to kick?” Deadpool offers blandly once the silence has dragged on long enough for him. 

“...I’m not sure.”

“We’ll make sure it’s someone who deserves it,” he sweetens the pot. 

“Maybe ... ...I think maybe I’m hungry...” 

Peter is perfectly aware that it’s not his stomach that is empty, and yet eating still sounds satisfying. 

“Yes,” Wade grunts and heaves himself up to his feet in one smooth move. “You gonna scam us some free ‘dogs from a street vendor?” 

“It’s not a scam if they offer,” Peter stands up a little more slowly, shaking out his limbs as he does. 

He feels a little achey from their fight, and he might have a few bruises. They’ll fade by tomorrow, though, and he’d started the fighting so he can’t complain. 

“Hey, you don’t have to defend yourself to _me_ ,” Wade lays a dramatic hand over his heart in promise. “I believe in anything that involves free food, and frankly I don’t think it’s enough given all of your extra-curricular altruism. Demand more, I say...” 

“That’s hardly the point...” 

“So you say, so you say...” 

Peter snorts.

“Meet you on top of The Bugle?” 

“Ta-ta for now, Shnookums...”

Peter hops off the roof to go find an amicable street vendor still open to cater to the bar crowds milling about.Not everyone likes to give him a free meal in exchange for his street-cleaning efforts, but he’s found some sellers he can reliably catch a free meal from.

 

 

So he has a small bag with hotdogs in his hand when he crawls up the corner of The Daily Bugle offices.Wade is seated above the large ‘B’ on the building’s facade, swinging his feet freely through the air and humming what sounds like ‘ _Whatta Man_ ’ under his breath.Peter joins him there and hands over half of the food so they could both wolf down a pair of hot dogs. 

It’s practically a snack compared to how much they can both pack away if they really try, but it’s something. 

“...so was she a cutie?” 

“You _are_ being pervy,” Peter scowls at Wade, who’s now taking a unnecessarily large bite of his hotdog. 

“I’m always a little bit pervy, baby boy, you know that,” the merc speaks carefully around his food so as not to spit everywhere. “...but, c’mon; she was, right?” 

“She was beautiful,” Peter finds it doesn’t feel so bad to confirm. “Out of my league ... ...she never liked when I said that,” he remembers and frowns a little. 

“Good for her”

As if Wade, the most self-deprecating person Peter knows, can judge. 

“For some reason I’m picturing a fiery red-head....” the mercenary goes on.

“No, she was blonde...” 

Peter distinctly remembers all the times he’d ran his fingers through her long hair, but he always has trouble thinking of her hair without remembering it streaked in red.

“Can we talk about something else?” he requests while he squishes a chuck of bun between his fingers.

“Sure...”

“Thanks,” he scoots a little closer to the mercenary without thinking and takes another small bite.

“You wanna talk about the guy Vanessa, that’s my ex, is dating now?” Wade offers and widens his legs a bit to draw a bit closer for him, too. 

“No, that sounds depressing ... ...wait, how do you know who she’s dating?” Peter frowns in thought. 

“Eh, I had a little stalker-y phase,” the broad man shrugs.“That was a couple years ago, though.” 

“Oh...well, no let’s not talk about that...”

“Aiight ...have you been hearing the rumors about lizards in the sewers?” Wade proposes a different new topic.

“Crocodiles in sewers are urban legends.Everybody know that...” 

“First of all, Petey-Pie, everyone does _not_ know that,” Wade’s statement makes Peter roll his eyes until he goes on, “but I’m talking about _lizard people_.Stories are a-flyin’ -- how have you not heard?Oh my lanta,” Wade gasps.“Am I a better super hero than you?” 

“...I can’t tell if you’re being serious,” Peter cocks his head to the side thoughtfully.

“Well, I don’t like the ‘ _hero_ ’ thing, you know that, but if I get to be better than y--”

“I meant about the lizards!”

“ _Lizard people_ ,” Wade corrects him again.“And no - I’m not joking.It’s been on my radar a few days, but I’ve been busy.Plus, ya know.I’m not super interested in sewers...” 

“...we’re going to the sewers,” Peter decides because he suddenly _needs_ to, and it’s not like he is going to sleep well tonight after all of this anyway. 

“Ugh,” Wade sags his shoulders theatrically. “On a full stomach?”

“If there’s lizard people?” Peter wriggles a little in anticipation where he sits even though he knows full well he shouldn’t find this exciting. “Then hell yeah...” 

Wade sighs and lobs the last half of his hotdog backward over his shoulder. 

“Fuck it.Let’s go...but I better get to catch a ride!”

“Sure”

Wade pumps a triumphant fist in the air and Peter downs the last of his food before standing and tugging his mask back down. 

“Hop on”

“Fuck yeah we’re doing this,” Wade does literally jump onto Peter’s back, now much more enthusiastic about the new plans. 

It had been a weird night, but, now that it’s inexplicably turning around, Peter isn’t so sorry for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to leave Vanessa/Wade as a break-up instead of her character being killed so the two have less-similar histories. Not sure if that means she'll show up later in this world, but maybe? ¯\\_('.')_/¯


End file.
